Force platforms are commonly used for research and clinical studies in such fields as biomechanics, medical research, orthopedics, rehabilitation evaluation, prosthetic uses and engineering. A force platform can measure the amount of sway in a person's stance while the person stands on the platform. Force platforms accomplish this by measuring three orthogonal force components along the x, y and z axes as well as moments about those axes.
One recent proposed use of force platforms is for determining high lead levels in children. The amount of swaying in the child's stance while standing on the force platform is determined by measuring the force components along the x, y and z axes as well as the moments about those axes. An appropriate signature analysis of the child's swaying is indicative of high lead levels.
Many force platforms include multi-axis spring members upon which a series of strain gauges are fixed for sensing loads along multiple axes. Electrical signals from the strain gauges are transmitted to an external amplifier which amplifies the signals to a sufficient voltage for processing in a computer.